


The Werewolf of Chandrila Primary School

by Andrina_Nightshade



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angsty child Ben Solo, F/M, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, No actual monsters were harmed in the making of this tale, Non-age appropriate Halloween costume, Uncle Chewie to the rescue!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28025916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andrina_Nightshade/pseuds/Andrina_Nightshade
Summary: When 5 year old Ben Solo's Hallowe'en costume terrifies his classmates, perhaps there is a new friend to be found in the girl dressed as Little Red Riding Hood...Based on a prompt from @reylo_prompts account.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 63
Kudos: 174
Collections: Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)





	The Werewolf of Chandrila Primary School

**Author's Note:**

> I needed a little break from the angst of A Memory of Sandalwood and the politics of Kintsugi, and luckily this prompt was ripe for the taking.
> 
> Special thanks to my fellow writers over at The Workshop and The Writing Den for their support and friendship!

Just before the final bell rings, and Miss Holdo dismisses the class, Ben's gaze wanders to the playground. He had finished his sums _ages_ ago, and was impatient for the day to end. Dad was due home this afternoon, and he had promised to bring back a genuine cowboy costume from the States for Ben to wear to the class Hallowe'en party tomorrow. 

But, as his eyes fall on the gaggle of parents and guardians lingering outside the school gates, he spots a familiar figure. Uncle Chewie is at least a head taller than even the tallest parent, and has the bushiest, thickest beard that Ben has ever seen. 

His heart sinks. Chewie is of course the most amazing Uncle in the whole world - he plays guitar and builds treehouses and makes pizza from scratch _,_ and he has the coolest job _ever_ \- but if Chewie is the one picking him up, it means that Dad isn't home.

Five year boys shouldn't cry - if Hux catches him again, the nickname crybaby Solo will haunt him until adulthood. So Ben waits until the bell has rung, and his classmates have bolted for the cloakroom, before rubbing angrily at his eyes. He keeps his back to Miss Holdo when he gathers up his books and pencil case. If she sees tears, she'll want to know why he is upset. 

Ben isn't like the other boys – not as boisterous as Poe nor as malicious as Hux. He is _far_ more mature than them - that's what Miss Holdo had told Mum and Dad at Parent's Night. Mature boys don't cry over missing their Dad.

So, once the din has died down, and Miss Holdo is distracted talking to the Niima girl, Ben dashes out of the classroom. Hands in his pockets, he kicks a stray pebble as he walks towards the school gates. 

Having a pilot for a Dad was supposed to be amazing. He was supposed to take Ben into cockpits and show him around the airbase and fly with him all around the world and share stories of daring manoeuvres and fun adventures. It was not supposed to be apologies and missed birthdays and broken promises.

Chewie is leaning against the wall, and his face breaks into a grin when he sees Ben. 

"Hey, little Starfighter!" He says in a deep, growly voice. "How was school today?"

"Fine, Uncle Chewie," Ben says morosely. "We made a collage from leaves, and did sums in the afternoon." His shoulders sag, and he sighs far too heavily for a five year old. "What's their excuse this time?"

Chewie bends down until he and Ben are eye-to-eye, and places a huge hand on the boy's back. His easy, playful demeanour is gone. "There's a hurricane, and they've grounded all flights today. I'm sorry, kid."

Ben bites his lip. "And Mum?"

"Her meeting over-ran, and she won't be home till after midnight. You can stay at mine tonight." Chewie says, ruffling the boy's hair. "I'm also under orders to make sure you eat your vegetables and get to bed early. Now, I'm not a smart man, but tomatoes are a vegetable, right?"

Ben rolls his eyes. "I've explained this a thousand _million_ times, Uncle Chewie. Tomatoes are a fruit."

"Huh, so you have." Chewie scratches his beard. "Good thing I've got you to keep me right then! So, does that mean onions and peppers are fruit?"

"They're vegetables," Ben says exasperatedly. 

"So, if I were to add them as toppings to my famous pepperoni pizza," Chewie says with a wink, "Then I'm technically following your Mum's instructions to the letter."

Ben contemplates for a moment. "Are you trying to distract me?" He asks, his eyes narrowed.

Uncle Chewie laughs. It's not directed at him, Ben knows, but he grimaces and sinks his hands into his pockets nonetheless.

"Is it working?"

"Maybe…" Ben shoots his uncle a plaintive look. 

Chewie gives an exaggerated gasp and clutches his chest. "Only maybe? You doth wound me, young Master Ben." When no laugh is forthcoming, he sighs. "You know that your Dad hates it every time he has to leave you, right?" Ben scoffs. "No, it's true, kid. Your Mum too. Breaks their damn hearts. You're their whole world, kid." 

"Great way of showing it," Ben mutters. They walk towards the Chewie's house in mulish silence. When they pass Yavin Crescent, Ben's eyes spot a house bedecked in artificial cobwebs and skeletons, with three creepy-faced carved pumpkins staring out of the living room window. 

"My costume!" Ben slaps a hand over his mouth, colour draining from his face. "Dad was bringing me a cowboy costume for the Hallowe'en party!" Now, his eyes fill with tears. He _can't_ turn up without a costume tomorrow! Hux will laugh and Poe will tease him and he'll probably cry and Miss Holdo will decide he isn't mature after all and his life will be _over_.

He grabs Chewie's huge hand, and tries to drag him in the opposite direction. "I need a costume," he says pleadingly, and dammit, he is five years old and crying in the street over a stupid cowboy costume like a _baby_.

The next thing he knows, his face is buried in the shoulder of Chewie's leather jacket as his uncle picks him up. He struggles for a few seconds before giving in and sobbing. 

He feels Chewie rubbing soothing circles on his back. How humiliating. No wonder his parents are never around - he's an embarrassment, a disgrace to the family name… he rubs his eyes until the tears stop and the sniffles abate.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into Chewie's shoulder.

"I didn't know you felt so passionately about Hallowe'en," Chewie says gently. "Come on - costume then pizza, OK?"

Unfortunately, when they arrive at the supermarket, it becomes apparent that every adult in Chandrila has had the same idea. The costume aisle has been picked clean like a carcass. Only a cuddly pumpkin costume remains.

If Poe Dameron is coming in a hand-stitched astronaut costume made by his Mum, there is _no_ way Ben Solo can show up to the class Hallowe'en party dressed as a cuddly pumpkin. 

His life is _over_.

"What am I going to do, Uncle Chewie?" He laments, wishing he could stamp his foot at the injustice of it all. 

Chewie scratches his beard again, and his eyes light up. "You trust me, kid?"

Ben nods. "You're the person I trust most in the whole world," he says earnestly. 

"How mad do you think your Mum'd be if I were to… sacrifice some of your old clothes?"

"I can't wear old clothes as a Hallowe'en costume!" His voice comes out as a high pitched whine and he cringes.

Chewie laughs. "As if I would subject my favourite nephew to so demeaning a fate!" He tugs Ben by the hand. "I have an idea for the most spectacular costume your school will have ever seen!"

* * *

His belly full of pizza (and several scoops of raspberry ripple ice cream, but Mum doesn't need to know about that part) and bolstered by Chewie's good mood, Ben follows his uncle into his workshop after dinner. 

Chewie's workshop is the most exciting place in the whole world because Chewie has the most amazing job ever (better even than being a pilot, but Ben would never, even on pain of death, tell his Dad that). The walls are dotted with glossy posters of movies Ben has been repeatedly told he can't watch until he's older. _The Vampire Queen of Ahch-To_ , _Martian Zombies, Killer Owls 4…_ But it's the shelves which thrill and creep out Ben in equal measure. They are laden with fake heads - zombies with rotted flesh, fish-men with glassy eyes that Ben swears follow him around the room, and even a human-insect cross with droopy antennae. And Uncle Chewie made them all.

"We're starting work on a werewolf movie next week," he tells Ben after plopping him down on the big leather chair in the centre of the room, and wrapping a plastic apron over his school uniform. "To be honest kid, I'm not entirely happy with the look. It's not scary enough, you know?"

Ben nods sagely. "Can I come and watch the movie being made?"

Chewie laughs. "Not until you're old enough to see it in the cinema," he says, which causes Ben to pout.

"Poe Dameron says his mum lets him watch any movie he wants, including the gory ones, and I'm _waaaay_ more mature than him."

"That Poe kid sounds like he talks a load of bull-" Chewie clears his throat, and Ben giggles. He already knows all of the bad words - he's overheard Mum muttering them late at night when she's typing away on her laptop and thinks he's asleep. "Anyway, how'd you like to help out your old Uncle and let him practice some werewolf makeup on you? Would make for a great Hallowe'en costume for the party tomorrow…"

Ben's eyes grow wide as saucers. "You'd do that for me?!" 

"Unless you want to go back and grab that pumpkin costume…" Chewie says with a wink.

Ben shakes his head. "No way! I want to be a werewolf! Please, please Uncle Chewie!" He can already picture the jealous looks on Poe's face when he turns up tomorrow made up like a real movie werewolf. 

"Excellent!" His Uncle ruffles his hair. "Now, this isn't a quick process - it'll take a few hours, and you'll have to sit still for most of, and you'll have to be up extra early so we can get it done in time for school-"

"Do whatever you need to, Uncle Chewie," Ben says, steely determination in his eyes. "I can take it."

He can't wait to render his classmates speechless tomorrow. 

* * *

Speechless indeed are the pupils of Miss Holdo's primary one class when Ben Solo walks into their Hallowe'en party, unrecognisable beneath layers of latex, fake fur and costume make-up, including fangs dripping with fake blood. Their silence lasts about thirty seconds, before Snap bursts into tears, and the other children erupt into whispers.

Miss Holdo shuffles Snap to the corner, and Ben feels his heart sink. 

Perhaps the fake blood had been a touch over the top…

Ben had been so proud of his costume earlier, his chest puffed out like a peacock as they had walked to school. He had even allowed Chewie to take dozens of photos, which he had promised would hold pride of place on his workshop walls. This was going to be the best Hallowe'en ever. 

But now, as the other children whisper and recoil from him (with even Poe and Hux look green around the gills), Ben wishes he'd let Chewie buy the pumpkin costume after all. He retreats to the corner and tries not to cry. 

"Is that real blood?" A girl's voice says.

Ben's eyes snap upwards, ready to lash out, his fake teeth bared in a snarl. He sees Rey Niima standing over him, fingers worrying in the cape of her Little Red Riding Hood costume. 

"Course not, dummy," he grouses. "I'm not a real werewolf."

She smiles, and that confuses Ben. She drops to her knees beside him, her hand hovers near his face. "It looks _soooooo_ real - can I touch it?"

Ben swallows, and nods. Her fingers touch the fake fur hesitantly, and her face breaks into a grin. "Your costume is awesome!" She says breathlessly. "Much better than mine." She gestures to her own outfit. But Ben thinks she looks like she was lifted from the pages of a fairy tale, with her pigtails and her freckles and the little basket with a gingham cloth she holds loosely in her arm. 

"I think you look really pretty," he says, and then realises that he said that aloud. He ducks his head, and hopes the make-up is thick enough to hide the flush filling his cheeks. Mum always said he was over-dramatic, but he thinks praying for the earth to swallow him up is an appropriate response. 

Rey blushes, and a little smile plays on her lips. "And I think you look like a real werewolf." Her fingers slide into his, and she tugs him to his feet. "Do you want to get some sweets with me?"

Ben stammers out a response, and lets her lead him to the table where Miss Holdo has laid out bowls of crisps and sweets and grapes and tangerines. The other children part like the Red Sea when they approach. They pile a paper plate each with as many treats as they can carry, and find some seats in the back corner. 

Hux, dressed in a pirate costume with a plastic parrot which keeps falling off his shoulder, points and laughs at them. "Niima's got herself a pet! Don't let him bite you, or he'll have to be put down!" He cackles, until Rey throws a grape which hits him squarely in the eye patch.

"Waste of a grape," she mutters, and Ben snorts. "Hey, if you bite me, does that mean I get to be a werewolf too?" Her eyes positively sparkle with the possibility.

Ben chews on a toffee as he considers the possibility. "I think you only become a werewolf if I bite you at the full moon," he declares confidently. "And it's not the full moon now."

"But if it's not the full moon, then how are you a werewolf?" She says, her eyes narrowed.

"Because anything is possible on Hallowe'en."

* * *

Even though none of the other children will come near him, Ben actually enjoys the party. He would never admit to liking a _girl_ , but Rey is good company. They had seldom spoken in the few months they had been in Miss Holdo's class together, but by the end of the day, Ben has decided that she is his new best friend. She likes the same cartoons and books and movies as him; she also hates mushrooms; and she even listens with rapt attention as he talks about Chewie's workshop and all the amazing monster movies his Uncle has worked on.

"Ooh, do you think he'll help me with my costume next year?" She asks, bouncing eagerly in her chair. "I wanted to go as a zombie, but Maz said no." Her lips form a pout, and she folds her arms across her chest. 

Ben thinks she looks adorable - but this time, he is careful not to let the words slip out.

When Miss Holdo pulls out her guitar, Rey coaxes him onto the makeshift dancefloor and makes him twirl her around to The Monster Mash. By the end, both are laughing, and their classmates are staring, but Ben's heart is so full of happiness he thinks he might explode with it.

He has never been more disappointed to see a school day end.

When the final bell chimes, Rey grabs his hand again, and they walk out of the classroom together. Poe and Hux are pointing at them, but Ben doesn't care. Evidently, neither does Rey. Before they reach the school gates, she leans over and kisses him on his furry cheek. 

Ben feels light enough to float away on the breeze ruffling her red cloak. 

"Happy Hallowe'en, Ben," she says, a blush staining her freckled cheeks, before she skips towards a tiny woman with thick glasses waiting for her by the gate.

Chewie is standing a few feet away, with- and Ben's heart soars once more - both Mum and Dad. Ben dives into his father's arms, and starts chattering away at a mile a minute.

"Hey, little Starfighter," Dad says, ruffling his hair. "Love the costume!"

Mum is staring at Chewie with an exasperated look on her face. "Was the blood really necessary?" She asks, but there is the hint of a smile on her lips.

"You can't censor art, Leia!" Uncle Chewie says. "And I think this is my best work yet." He winks at Ben. "Looks like Little Red Riding Hood agrees. So, when's the wedding?"

Ben blushes, and his parents and Uncle Chewie laugh. "She's just a friend."

"Let's not marry off our son _quite_ yet, Han," Mum says in that tone which Ben knows will silence his father on the matter. 

His parents' hands in his, and Uncle Chewie following behind, Ben chatters happily about the party and how much he loves his costume and if they can have pizza again for dinner tonight, and if they'll have time to carve a pumpkin before they go trick-or-treating later.

It's the best Hallowe'en Ben could ever have hoped for.


End file.
